While it is understandable that Armstrong has generated a huge uproar with claims of cheating his way to Tour de France victories, it is perhaps worth a moment stepping back and looking at the facts: (1) While the rational for using EPO and autologous blood transfusions sounds very plausible, and evidence that they enhance performance is based on a 1996 study, more recent data, including an article just published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology would indicate that EPO has absolutely no significant effect on performance. This is perhaps not too surprising because it isn't obvious that oxygen carrying capacity is the limiting factor, and further one has to balance the potentially positive effects of increased red cell count with the negative effects of increased blood viscosity - the issue is that one has to get the blood to the site of action through tiny capillaries. (2) While I'm sure that Armstrong was a very tough cycling boss, I doubt whether he initiated a doping ring, especially since by their own admission Hincappie and Hamilton (see the Secret Race) were taking EPO before Armstrong even joined US Postal. (3) The microdosing with testosterone that was claimed to speed up recovery is also not proven and has no scientific basis. (4) One can probably conclude that the effects of EPO, blood doping and sublingual low dose testosterone were of the placebo variety. However, since pro-biking requires the ability to overcome huge amounts of pain and therefore has a huge mental component, this placebo effect may not have been negligible, but would likely have been achieved no matter what the cyclists were taking. (5) I would be willing to bet that it doesn't matter what type of chemical enhancement one may have, none of that does anything unless one is superbly fit and very light. Armstrong was no slouch, and neither were any of the others (again see Hamilton's recent book). (6) It has been argued that Armstrong was not a GC contender prior to his bout with testicular cancer as he was not a climber. However, this is neither here nor there, because subsequent to his recovery he had lost 20 pounds in weight (and climbing speed is directly related to power to weight ratio) and completely changed his technique (to a very fast cadence style). (7) The notion that prior doping with testosterone was responsible for his testicular cancer is not based on any factual evidence. Indeed, if this were the case, would one not expect a recurrence with continued testosterone usage. Remember he basically had end-stage metastatic disease and following recovery has been cancer free for over 15 years. (8) It has been argued that performance enhancement achieved by EPO usage varies from person to person. leaving out the recent data that EPO does not enhance performance, it is worth bearing in mind that this argument is a little fallacious. If higher hematocrit alone were to enhance performance, then surely EPO coupled with the UCI hematocrit limit of 50 (and by the way the upper range of normal used by the Johns Hopkins pathology lab is 53) would put athletes on an even playing field (i.e. genetic variations in hematocrit would be eliminated).
As anybody who has participated in Gran Fondos, including classical ones such as the Marmotte and Etape du Tour, knows, cycling is an incredibly arduous sport. To be able to ride 100-125 miles and climb 15000 to 16000 ft a day over a 3 week period is already beyond human, especially at the speed of the pro-peloton. (Admittedly only maybe a third of the stages in the TdF are climbing stages, but nevertheless, this is an incredible feat).
Mr. Tinley, Armstrong is NOT a "product of society!" We all make our own choices! You are typical of what is wrong with society! Instead of holding individuals accountable for their crimes, especially celebrities and sports figures, you simply make excuses for them and label them as products of society! Inexcusable! No one made him do EPO and steroids and testosterone and blood transfusions and whatever else there was....no one made him lie, cheat, cover up, threaten people, and disgrace all of America, HE chose to do it!! Perhaps we should all just do whatever we want.....rob a bank, kill our enemies, steal, rape, and then just say we are a "product if society," so that'll make it OK. That "product of society" is for the birds! Just total BS! People must be held accountable for their crimes, or we win continue to spiral more out of control and without moral or legal concience. And BTW, I have no idea what selling energy drinks or breast augmentation has to do with ANY of this. Your attempt to save some face for your pal is absurd, and you can try to put any kind of spin you want on it, but the facts speak for themselves. There IS no excuse. Anyone who would even attempt to defend someone as vile as Lance Armstrong is no doubt harboring some big sins of his own.
Unbelievable that he thinks he should be allowed to compete again! He has no regret for what he did, no concience, and thinks he should just be allowed to go on like nothing happened! I cant believe it! Not only was he a cold-hearted, selfish cheater to his loyal wife, he is a cheater to the world, mainly the United States! This dirt-bag is a disgrace! No one would EVER, EVER believe that he was not still cheating and doping and lieing if he ever competed again! He cannot ever be trusted! His ego is all that matters to him! I hope he never does get to compete again, and I hope he rots in jail, then in hell! I dont even have enough words to describe my hatred and disgust for this lousy excuse-of-a-"man." He is a far cry from a man. His races mean NOTHING now, his "wins" are a joke, he has left a dark stain on American sports and left us looking dirty and untrustable ever again, and if he is allowed to compete, there is truly something wrong with justice in this country!!! I hope his karma is returned to him one-thousand-fold!! What scum!!!!!
Wow...hold a grudge much? I can understand your anger with Lance but the hatred and disdain you use towards him is a bit much,"hope he rots in jail, then in hell"! Whoa...He was merely competing in a sport that has been proven to be nothing but a bunch of dopers. He did nothing more than what the rest of the competitors were doing. He does deserve another chance to compete, everybody at some point or another cheats, its part of natural human behavior. From cheating on tests when in grade school to speeding down the freeway when the cops aren't out. The only thing that shocks me anymore is how people react when they find out that their hero's, icons, and whomever else is put on a pedastool is caught using PED's. News flash everybody does it. Use that pent up anger towards the cheaters and liars that make real decisions in our lives such as politicains or the insanely wealthy.
How DARE that disgusting, lieing cheater disgrace this country like he has!! Doping, lieing, bullying other team members into doing the same and to keep their mouths shut, threatening, thinking he was above the law and untouchable!! What a "joke" of a so-called "athlete"! He has made us all look dirty in the eyes of the world, and like we cant win unless we cheat!! He should be turned over to an angry mob so we can get some real justice! I wish he'd have to sit in prison for the rest of his life!! This scumbag does not really even deserve to draw another breath! All he cared about was his image.....so he could appear to be a hero, and a super athlete, at any cost, and he lied without blinking and without remorse? How's your image looking NOW, Lance, you piece of rotten vomit?? You make me sick!!! Speaking for the majority of America and the world, we hate you! May you rot in hell!
This author's glowing adoration for L.A. is a testament to the kind of charisma and ego that allowed him (LA) to dupe the whole world. Armstrong is an example of what can go wrong when you are obsessed with winning at ANY cost. His name should not be remembered. He is a lair, a cheater, a manipulator, and a sociopath IMHO.
Finally.......I am so sick of Lance bashing. He was an incredible athlete when he was 14 years old. Had everyone else not been blood doping in racing.....he still would have been a winner in the end. I've read his book "it's not about the bike" three times ....the first time around 2001. Every time I realize more why he became the person he did. The hatred towards him is more what people should feel towards an ax murderer!? Enough......give him a chance to be a better person.......
Blah, blah, blah. He's a lying cheater by his own admission. When he pays back every penny that he stole from sponsors (how many millions$ ?) we can start talking about rehabilitation. Until then, he's just in it for the $$$$, and I'll leave it up to others to come up appropriate monikers for the loser.
This guy has had one drink too many of Lance Armstrong's cool-aid. Armstrong is only doing this confessing now becasue he had no other way out and he wants to compete again. He thinks by confessing the life time ban will be lifted. He ruined people's lives, people who were telling the truth about him, and now he wants forgiveness, especially after taking millions from sponsors and his other sources. The dude would still be telling lies if there was any other way for him. Now there is talk that Armstrong is going to give names of the people who allowed him to cheat. Wil if he had any moral aptitude, this would have been done years go, with him confessing, when he didn't have anything to gain.
What has angered me for years, even before he was accused of cheating, is the fact that the United Postal Service was one of his sponsors. As a consumer all we ever hear about is the postal service is in the red and postage stamps go up.. So why do they have money to support Lance and his team? A sponsorship is to drum up business for the company and how did sponsoring Lance's team drum up business for the postal service? To know Lance cheated only makes it worse because he cheated everyone in America..
Cheated yes, but for years he also lied about his cheating. His weak confession about using drugs does not change him from being a liar and a cheat. His good works were good works but he used his ill-gotten wealth to pay for his good works.
ST, I have enjoyed your writings for 2 decades. I really appreciate what you wrote here. It helps me sort out my confused feelings about it all. I was a fan of LA since the time that you two met and I started my triathlon career. I defended him up until he cheated on his wife. The way you described marital fidelity is a sad reality of what we have boiled down marriage to in this society. Just look at how many politicians have been unfaithful to their spouse yet continued on to a successful career. It is sad that one cannot honor that one pledge of faithfulness. How many lies have been told to cover up a cheater in marriage. So, yes - I have been disappointed in LA for a long time. And watching him admit to all of the hurtful things that he did to those who were once friends and were now telling the truth was painful. I know that he must pay the price and his near term financial situation is very bleak. However as a triathlete of two and a half decades I would still like to see him do an Ironman triathlon before he is 49 or 50. I really hope that he can work out some sort of agreement with the national and world doping agencies to compete before he gets much further from his prime. I know that is a selfish wish, but for so many years I have wanted to see what he could do. He sort of showed us in some of those 70.3 half ironman races. Only time will tell and only time will heal some of the wounds that he caused. I hope that you will write about this again sometime in the future. I'll be watching....
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(1) While the rational for using EPO and autologous blood transfusions sounds very plausible, and evidence that they enhance performance is based on a 1996 study, more recent data, including an article just published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology would indicate that EPO has absolutely no significant effect on performance. This is perhaps not too surprising because it isn't obvious that oxygen carrying capacity is the limiting factor, and further one has to balance the potentially positive effects of increased red cell count with the negative effects of increased blood viscosity - the issue is that one has to get the blood to the site of action through tiny capillaries.
(2) While I'm sure that Armstrong was a very tough cycling boss, I doubt whether he initiated a doping ring, especially since by their own admission Hincappie and Hamilton (see the Secret Race) were taking EPO before Armstrong even joined US Postal.
(3) The microdosing with testosterone that was claimed to speed up recovery is also not proven and has no scientific basis.
(4) One can probably conclude that the effects of EPO, blood doping and sublingual low dose testosterone were of the placebo variety. However, since pro-biking requires the ability to overcome huge amounts of pain and therefore has a huge mental component, this placebo effect may not have been negligible, but would likely have been achieved no matter what the cyclists were taking.
(5) I would be willing to bet that it doesn't matter what type of chemical enhancement one may have, none of that does anything unless one is superbly fit and very light. Armstrong was no slouch, and neither were any of the others (again see Hamilton's recent book).
(6) It has been argued that Armstrong was not a GC contender prior to his bout with testicular cancer as he was not a climber. However, this is neither here nor there, because subsequent to his recovery he had lost 20 pounds in weight (and climbing speed is directly related to power to weight ratio) and completely changed his technique (to a very fast cadence style).
(7) The notion that prior doping with testosterone was responsible for his testicular cancer is not based on any factual evidence. Indeed, if this were the case, would one not expect a recurrence with continued testosterone usage. Remember he basically had end-stage metastatic disease and following recovery has been cancer free for over 15 years.
(8) It has been argued that performance enhancement achieved by EPO usage varies from person to person. leaving out the recent data that EPO does not enhance performance, it is worth bearing in mind that this argument is a little fallacious. If higher hematocrit alone were to enhance performance,
then surely EPO coupled with the UCI hematocrit limit of 50 (and by the way the upper range of normal used by the Johns Hopkins pathology lab is 53) would put athletes on an even playing field (i.e. genetic variations in hematocrit would be eliminated).
As anybody who has participated in Gran Fondos, including classical ones such as the Marmotte and Etape du Tour, knows, cycling is an incredibly arduous sport. To be able to ride 100-125 miles and climb 15000 to 16000 ft a day over a 3 week period is already beyond human, especially at the speed of the pro-peloton. (Admittedly only maybe a third of the stages in the TdF are climbing stages, but nevertheless, this is an incredible feat).